Space Probe Finds Ice In Mercury's Craters

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Researchers say they have identified traces of ice in craters on Mercury, seen here in this Oct. 8, 2008, image from the Messenger spacecraft.

NASA

Researchers say they have identified traces of ice in craters on Mercury, seen here in this Oct. 8, 2008, image from the Messenger spacecraft.

Mercury is not the first planet to come to mind if you were searching for ice in the solar system. After all, the surface temperature across most of the planet is hot enough to melt lead.

But at the poles on Mercury it's a different story. Almost no sun reaches the poles, and as a result, temperatures can drop to less than -100 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, three papers in the journal Science suggest there really is ice at the bottom of craters near the poles on Mercury.

The evidence comes from an instrument on NASA's Messenger spacecraft called Mercury Laser Altimeter. Messenger has been orbiting Mercury since March 2011.

Gregory Neumann and his colleagues at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built the instrument. He says it's basically a bright flashlight. "We can use it to measure reflectance ? places where the imagers can't see anything because it's dark," says Neumann.

When they shined their laser flashlight into the craters, they saw was something that looked very much like ice.

To tell the truth, Neumann and his colleagues weren't all that surprised. Radar observations from Earth had predicted ice would be at the poles on Mercury, and another instrument on Messenger also saw signals consistent with ice.

But that raises an interesting question. Where's the water for making the ice coming from?

"It could be coming from the interior, because every planet contains a little bit of water in the mantle," says Neumann.

But that's not likely, because Neuman says scientists can't think of any way that the water trapped in Mercury's mantle could make it to the surface.

A more likely explanation is that the water came from comets that crashed into the planet. "Mercury gets bombarded periodically by comets," says Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, another one of the scientists on the Messenger mission. Zuber says comets are sometimes referred to as dirty snowballs, since they're made of organic dirt and frozen water.

Not only does water get deposited on Mercury from the comets, says Zuber, "The organics get deposited on the surface as well."

Greg Neumann says the Mars Laser Altimeter was able to detect organics, too.

"They're kind of a carbonaceous, tarry substance that we call goo, to use a technical term," says Neumann.

So Mercury has ice and goo. Who knew?

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/11/29/166162020/space-probe-finds-ice-in-mercurys-craters?ft=1&f=1007

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X-rays expose blueprint for possible sleeping sickness drug

Friday, November 30, 2012

Using the world's most powerful X-ray laser, scientists have exposed a possible Achilles' heel of the sleeping sickness parasite that threatens more than 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The sophisticated analysis revealed the blueprint for a molecular plug that can selectively block a vital enzyme of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Plugging such a tailor-made molecule into the right place of the enzyme would render it inactive, thereby killing the parasite. The team led by DESY scientist Prof. Henry Chapman from the Center of Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), Prof. Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg and Dr. Lars Redecke from the joint Junior Research Group "Structural Infection Biology using new Radiation Sources (SIAS)" of the Universities of Hamburg and L?beck report their findings in the journal Science. "This is the first new biological structure solved with a free-electron laser," said Chapman.

The researchers had investigated tiny crystals of the parasite's enzyme cathepsin B with intense X-rays from the free-electron laser Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the US National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC in California. "The enzyme had emerged as a promising drug target in earlier trials", said Redecke, one of the first authors of the scientific paper. "The knockdown of this essential enzyme in the parasite did cure the infection in mice."

But the same enzyme is also part of the human - and in fact of all mammalian - biochemistry, and blocking it has severe consequences. With their analysis the scientists could now pinpoint distinctive structural differences between the human and the parasite's form of the enzyme. "This should in principle allow for designing a molecule that selectively blocks the parasite's enzyme while leaving the patient's intact", explained the other first author of the paper, Karol Nass, PhD student at the Hamburg School for Structure and Dynamics in Infection (SDI), funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal State of Hamburg (LEXI), The researchers stress that while the finding raises hopes, a possible new drug is still a long way to go.

Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly. The Trypanosoma parasites invade the central nervous system, and without treatment the infection is usually fatal. The disease occurs in 36 sub-Saharan countries and affects mostly poor populations living in remote rural areas. Thanks to intensified control measures the number of reported cases fell steeply in recent years, but there are still millions at risk. Current treatments of HAT rely on anti-parasitic drugs developed without knowledge of the biochemical pathways. They are not always as effective and as safe as desired, and the parasites are increasingly becoming resistant to these drugs. New drugs that selectively kill the parasite without affecting the patient's own organism would be of great use.

With cathepsin B the scientists applied a novel approach by investigating tiny crystals of the enzyme that were grown in insect cells in vivo. This way the enzyme was frozen in its natural configuration that includes a native inhibitor. Because cathepsin B works as a sort of molecular scissors cutting away at other proteins, it is produced by the cell in an inhibited form and only activated when needed. In the inhibited form a small peptide molecule is blocking the cutting edge of the molecular scissors. "With the peptide still in place we could peer below a previously impenetrable part of the cathepsin B structure ", explained Betzel. There, the analysis revealed significant differences between the peptide binding sites at the parasite's and the human form of cathepsin B. "This way, nature provided us with a blueprint of what an artificial inhibitor for the parasite's enzyme could look like." The next step would be to synthesise such a tailor-made plug and test it in the lab.

The molecular structure of the enzyme was solved to the atomic level by shooting bright X-ray flashes at the tiny cathepsin B crystals, which were only about a micron (a thousandth of a millimetre) in diameter and about ten microns long on average. Crystals scatter X-rays in a characteristic way that depends on their inner structure. From the resulting diffraction pattern the structure of the crystals can be calculated, in this case revealing the structure of the enzyme. Today, crystallography is a standard technique to analyse biomolecules. Usually, scientists use modified bacteria to produce biomolecules in large amounts and try to crystallise them into the largest possible sizes of high-quality crystals afterwards. The in vivo crystallisation pioneered at the labs of Betzel and Prof. Michael Duszenko at the University of T?bingen, who is also a member of the research team, employs living cells to produce crystals. In contrast to standard crystallisation experiments, only in vivo crystallisation yielded suitable crystals of cathepsin B in a natively inhibited form.

But the in vivo crystals are still so small that only X-ray lasers like LCLS are bright enough to produce sufficiently detailed diffraction images. The LCLS belongs to a novel class of scientific light sources called free-electron lasers that are based on powerful particle accelerators. In these machines, electrons are accelerated to high speeds, or energies, and are then forced on a tight slalom course. In every bend each electron emits a tiny flash, and all the flashes add up to an incredibly strong X-ray pulse with laser properties, that allows to resolve structures like the natively inhibited cathepsin B molecule.

To solve the cathepsin B structure the researchers had to record hundreds of thousands of diffraction images that were painstakingly stitched together afterwards. As each crystal is destroyed when hit by the powerful X-ray flash, the team fed a stream of crystals in a watery solution through a thin nozzle into the laser path. The X-ray laser fired away at 120 shots per second, where on average only every eleventh shot actually hit a crystal. This resulted in a total of 293,195 diffraction images recorded. These could only be processed with massive parallel computing, to first generate a three-dimensional map of the entire diffracting signals of the enzyme from which an image of its structure was calculated. The final result revealed the enzyme's structure with a resolution of 2.1 ?ngstr?m (one ?ngstr?m is a tenth of a nanometre or a ten-millionth of a millimetre). "Interestingly, this discovery comes exactly at the centenary of the publication of the famous X-ray diffraction equation by William Bragg in 1912," Chapman pointed out.

The team included members from DESY, the Universities of Hamburg, L?beck, T?bingen, Uppsala and Gothenburg, the Arizona State University, SLAC, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Max Planck institute for medical research in Heidelberg and the Max Planck advanced study group at CFEL. CFEL is a joint venture of DESY, the Max Planck society and the University of Hamburg. DESY is the leading German accelerator centre and one of the leading worldwide.

###

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres: http://www.helmholtz.de/en/index.html

Thanks to Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125614/X_rays_expose_blueprint_for_possible_sleeping_sickness_drug

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Proteins that work at the ends of DNA could provide cancer insight

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? New insights into a protein complex that regulates the very tips of chromosomes could improve methods of screening anti-cancer drugs.

Led by bioengineering professor Sua Myong, the research group's findings are published in the journal Structure.

Myong's group focused on understanding the proteins that protect and regulate telomeres, segments of repeating DNA units that cap the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres protect the important gene-coding sections of DNA from loss or damage, the genetic equivalent of aglets -- the covering at the tips of shoelaces that keep the ends of the laces from unraveling or fraying.

Telomeres play an important role in cell aging and death, since each time a cell divides, a little bit is lost from the end of the telomere. Thus, cell biologists postulate that telomere length can determine the lifespan of a cell. Cancer cells, however, have a way to get around this limitation: An enzyme called telomerase that adds length to telomeres is highly active in cancer cells. This allows cancer cells to divide in perpetuity, running amok through tissues and systems.

"Cancer researchers want to get a hold of this problem, control this indefinite lengthening of the telomeres," said Myong, who also is affiliated with the Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I. "A lot of the anti-cancer drugs are targeted directly to these telomeres so that they can inhibit telomerase activity. The proteins we study regulate the activity of telomerase."

Using a technique developed at Illinois that allows researchers to watch single molecules interact in real time, Myong's group determined how two proteins called POT-1 and TTP-1 bind to the telomere. POT-1 protects the fragile telomere ends from being attacked by other regulatory proteins that might mistake the end for a broken or damaged area of DNA. When POT-1 and TTP-1 work together in a complex, they promote telomerase activity, an interesting target for cancer researchers.

The group found that on its own, POT-1 binds to the folded-up telomere in distinct steps at particular points in the telomere's DNA sequence, unfolding the telomere in a stepwise manner. However, the POT-1/TTP-1 complex surprised the researchers by binding, then freely sliding back and forth along the telomere end.

"Instead of stepwise binding, what we saw was a mobile protein complex, a dynamic sliding motion," Myong said. "Somehow it was as if the static binding activity of POT-1 is completely lost -- the protein complex just slid back and forth. We were able to reproduce the data and confirm it with many different tail lengths of the telomeric DNA and we know now that the contact between POT-1 and the telomere is somehow altered when the partner protein comes and binds."

Next, the researchers will add telomerase and see how the sliding activity of the POT-1/TTP-1 complex affects telomerase activity. Myong postulates that the sliding may promote telomerase activity -- and thus telomere lengthening -- by making the end of the telomere accessible for the telomerase enzyme to bind.

"We are excited about the possibility that this kind of mobility can increase the telomerase extension activity," Myong said. "It's somehow engaging the enzyme so that it can stay bound to the DNA longer. So it must involve a direct interaction."

Ultimately, understanding the POT-1/TTP-1 complex gives drug developers a new target for anti-cancer drugs, and the assay Myong's group used to monitor the complex could offer a venue for evaluating telomere-targeting drugs.

"We want to extend our a basic science knowledge in telomere biology into causes of cancer and we hope that our assay can be useful for telomere-targeted drug screening," Myong said.

The American Cancer Society and the Human Frontier Science Research Program supported this work.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Journal Reference:

1. Helen Hwang, Noah Buncher, Patricia?L. Opresko, Sua Myong. POT1-TPP1 Regulates Telomeric Overhang Structural Dynamics. Structure, 2012; 20 (11): 1872 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2012.08.018

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/H7VyF-YvzO4/121129152029.htm

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Day of reckoning for Cameron and British press

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron faces a no-win dilemma on Thursday when a far-reaching inquiry into British newspapers delivers its verdict on how to curb the excesses of the country's notoriously aggressive press.

Cameron, who was embarrassed when toe-curling details of his cosy texts to one of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's lieutenants emerged at the inquiry, will have to decide whether to accept its findings and anger a hostile press and many in his own party, or reject them and risk dividing his coalition government.

He will also be conscious of the weight of expectation from a public that was scandalized to learn that journalists hacked the phones of victims of crime, wined, dined and paid police for leads and were in constant touch with senior politicians.

Cameron will give his response to the House of Commons after the report is published at 1330 GMT, under scrutiny from high-profile figures such as Hollywood actor Hugh Grant who have campaigned for a clampdown on an industry they say ruins lives.

The issue has divided the cabinet and could put the prime minister at odds with Nick Clegg, the leader of the junior Liberal Democrat partners in the coalition government.

Following talks between the leaders on Thursday, a Liberal Democrat source said Clegg would deliver his own statement to parliament after Cameron, implying that the two disagree on the way forward. However the source played down suggestions of a major breach in the coalition.

The inquiry was ordered by Cameron following public outrage at Murdoch's now defunct News of the World, a News Corp tabloid whose journalists hacked the phone messages of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who was later found dead.

Exposing the close ties between political leaders, police chiefs and press barons, the inquiry revealed the "dark arts" of journalists seeking ever more salacious stories in a bid to hold up dwindling circulation figures.

Huge attention will be focused on whether Lord Justice Brian Leveson, one of Britain's top judges, recommends a new body to regulate the press with powers enshrined in law, or merely says the existing system of self-regulation should be overhauled.

He could also criticize Cameron's government, including one of his most senior ministers, Jeremy Hunt, for close ties to Murdoch's News Corp and their handling of the company's aborted bid to take control of pay-TV group BSkyB in what would have been its largest acquisition.

The press, backed by some 80 members of parliament, has lobbied hard for Cameron to resist calls for legislation, arguing it would curb freedom of speech and mean newspapers requiring state approval for the first time since 1695.

"For today Britain stands at a crossroads," Murdoch's Sun tabloid said in its leader column. "In one direction: Official control of papers, with state sensors approving stories. In the other direction: A free press under stricter self-governance."

UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES

However, a similar number of lawmakers, as well as academics and celebrities, favor statutory regulation, and opinion polls suggest the public agrees.

A poll for the BBC said two thirds of people do not trust newspapers to tell the truth, while almost half want the industry to be regulated by a body backed by the courts.

"The status quo is unacceptable and needs to change," Cameron told parliament on Wednesday. "This government set up Leveson because of unacceptable practices in parts of the media and because of a failed regulatory system."

Some media have speculated that Cameron will give the press one last chance to get its house in order even if Leveson backs a new law.

Under the watchful eye of Leveson, celebrities including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, singer Charlotte Church, Dowler's parents and other Britons who found themselves in the media spotlight, told the inquiry how they had been harassed, bullied, and traumatized by the press.

Four prime ministers including Cameron were also quizzed in great detail about their links to newspaper owners, especially Murdoch, who himself endured two days of grilling, during which he denied playing puppet-master to those running the country.

The inquiry heard intimate emails and text messages between Cameron and Murdoch's top lieutenant Rebekah Brooks, who goes on trial next year over the alleged phone hacking.

(Additional reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Giles Elgood and Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/day-reckoning-cameron-british-press-083402933--finance.html

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CrossFit Ocean City: WHEN BRIGHTER DAYS ARRIVE

What are you doing on a daily basis to make things better for yourself and your family? Are you working harder than you did a few years ago? Are you earning more or less than before? Have debts piled up? Do you have strained relationships with friends, family, or your spouse that you didn't have before?

What about your health and fitness? Have you paid much attention to what you eat and how you train? Are you even training consistently at all these days? If not, do you attribute this lack of effort to all of the problems noted above?

There's a general feeling of unease and trepidation throughout America these days. Certainly the economic conditions tend to depress a lot of small business owners and others working hard to make a living. Our political leadership (both sides of the aisle) can't seem to garner consensus and solve our nation's pressing economic, social, and diplomatic issues. And the international scene appears bleak with the impending Iranian nuclear situation, the never-ending Israeli-Palestinean problem, rising military might of China, trouble in North Korea, ongoing terrorism throughout the world, and the military problems plaguing our nation as we continue to wage what appears to be a no-win situation in Afghanistan.?

To top things off, the moral standards of some of our nation's leaders leaves a lot to be desired. Fraud, lack of fidelity, cheating, lying, and the basic sense of entitlement and living above the law certainly don't provide the rest of us with the type of leadership we need to get our butts in gear. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly those who continue to live honorably and do the right thing. It's just apparent that those leaders just happen to be the hard working owners of small businesses, athletes training for pure fitness events (like the CrossFit Games), hard working law enforcement, and mid-level military officers and senior staff NCOs, to name just a few.

What we're left with is not just an impending fiscal cliff, but impending moral, ethical, and social cliffs (I'll leave those for a different day). There's also a serious health and fitness cliff looming on the horizon. I'm not talking about Obamacare --officially the Affordable Health Care for America Act -- it's your personal health and fitness cliff that's looming. Let me explain.

To begin with, understand that there is both a fitness cliff and a health cliff. Take a look at your fitness training plan. Are you a cardio bunny bouncing around in a group fitness class led by a semi-anorexic instructor fresh from the pages of Shape magazine? Are you a gym rat hitting the Cybex machines, universals, and Smith machines (Monday - back and bis; Wednesday - chest and shoulders; Friday - legs; with cardio on the treadmill the other days) with a copy or two of Muscle and Fitness in your gym bag along with some kind of power-stacker muscle-builder protein powder? Are you the closet home fitness video person (P90X, Insanity, Jane Fonda)? Perhaps you just like to run a lot, or you're trying some contrived fitness program that pretends to be a strength and conditioning program -- but really is just entertainment and sweat. If you're a CrossFitter, congratulations, you've graduated to the next level of fitness and have (hopefully) realized the true benefits of multi-modality, strength and conditioning training under the supervision of a trained professional coach who will push you to become better than you are. Whatever it is that you do, at least you're not sitting on a couch someplace. ?With continued training, your fitness cliff is at least someplace further down the road than the guy or gal sitting behind a desk all day and never setting foot inside a gym.

Health, while some consider synonymous with fitness, is a completely different animal. Cancer and serious illness and disease aside, health is directly linked with what you eat. That nasty four-letter word "diet" has so many definitions that it would take several more long posts like this to explain all of them. Needless to say, the long and short of it is that excess, refined carbohydrates (sugar, bread, beer, white rice, sweats) directly cause hyperinsulinemia, which in turn leads directly to obesity, heart disease, and other maladies like Diabetes Type II. When will America all wake up and understand that dietary fat does not make one fat? Only refined carbohydrates cause obesity. This happens through a process resulting from spiked insulin in the blood, sentivity in the fat cells, and storage of triglycerides in the fat cells making them larger. (Read "Why We Get Fat" or "Good Calories, Bad Calories" to understand this concept fully and to disavow any notion that high carb, low fat diets are healthy in any way.) But I've digressed. Eat right -- a low carb diet devoid of refined carbs -- or go off the health cliff. Period.

If you're not training and you're not eating properly, then you need to start. Don't wait until brighter days arrive. Brighter days will only arrive if you work at it and only if you only commit to taking care of yourself. Otherwise, the health and fitness cliffs loom large for you in a way that will make the fiscal cliff look like an insignificant blip on the radar. Falling off the fiscal cliff isn't the end of the world, but going off the health and fitness cliffs certainly are -- at least for you personally.

If you need help taking that first step towards brighter days and away from the cliff, we'll help get you there. All you have to do is make the commitment to start.?

Source: http://www.crossfitocmd.com/crossfit_ocmd/2012/11/when-brighter-days-arrive.html

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Today on New Scientist: 30 November 2012

Dinosaurs might have once gazed into the Grand Canyon

It had been thought that the canyon formed 6 million years ago, but now two geologists say it is actually closer to 70 million years old

Saturn's rings may double up as a moon factory

A new model suggests Saturn's famous rings spawned the planet's moons. Could the mechanism explain the moons of Uranus, Neptune and even Earth?

Gaming the future: the best of 2012

New Scientist looks back at the video games that explored the boundaries of science and technology this year

Friday Illusion: Mystery mirror reveals missing banana

A prize for the first person to figure out how a strange mirror image remains in view

Syria again disconnects nation from the internet

Once again, the Syrian government appears to have pulled the plug on the internet, cutting off its citizens from the rest of the world

Crowdfund your area's projects one brick at a time

As the recession bites and budgets are cut, websites are springing up that allow citizens to club together to fund everything from parks to bridges

Omniphobia: the stuffs that stick at nothing

Whether it's water, oil, ketchup or ants, materials that repel everything that touches them are on the way, says Jessica Griggs

Feedback: Commas in breach of copyright

Why these words break the law, impure apples, Google rewrites the history of everything, and more

A quantum of... We want to see your movies!

The deadline for the Quantum Shorts Film Competition is hard on us and we've already had some amazing entries - submit yours before Sunday

LHC sees hint of high-speed particle pancake

Purely by accident, the Higgs-boson-hunting Large Hadron Collider may have stumbled upon a rare state of matter called a colour-glass condensate

Social bee-haviour: The secret life of the hive

Bees have a brain the size of a pinhead, yet their daily activities rival the range of behaviours seen in many mammals

Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall

China's censors have innovative ways of stopping its citizens accessing banned websites, including poisoning internet servers

Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

A slow and steady rescue mission has seen the population of the iconic creatures on Espa?ola Island leap from just 12 into the thousands

Messenger finds hints of ice at Mercury's poles

The innermost planet of the solar system could harbour a small polar habitable zone - but the chances of finding life there are remote

Projections of sea level rise are vast underestimates

Estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 were wildly wrong

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/492992/s/26240a94/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A120C110Ctoday0Eon0Enew0Escientist0E30A0Enove0E30Bhtml/story01.htm

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Dolly Parton talks dreams, love, plastic surgery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Although Dolly Parton has cemented her place in country and popular music, pop culture, and as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, she still, on occasion, gets nervous.

Her new book, "Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You" encourages readers to overcome their fears, believe in their passions and keep taking risks.

The "I Will Always Love You" singer/songwriter, 66, who has written more than 3,000 songs and sold more than 100 million records, talked to Reuters about the message of the book, which was published this week.

Q. You say you put off writing this book?

A. "It's just a simple little book. It's not meant to save the world, or it's not a complete book of how to be successful, but I think there is enough stuff in it for people to see kinda how I conduct my business and kinda what my thoughts are. And the good part is that all the money, if it sells good, goes to Imagination Library."

Q. Right - your nonprofit quest to get kids to read?

A. "It's one of the reasons I wanted to write this too, because I usually do concerts every year, for the foundation to make money to afford a lot of books, but I am not on tour now."

Q. Talk about your 2009 commencement address at the University of Tennessee. Were you nervous?

A. "Well, yes, when I am out of my element doing things. I am not that educated and I didn't go that far in school and I thought, 'What am I going to say to these educated people, not just these kids who have just graduated college and are probably brilliant, but all these professionals and all these teachers?' And I thought, 'Oh, I am not smart enough', but I thought, 'Well, at least I am a hometown girl. At least they can see that in America, you can start from humble beginnings, that everybody can make it."

Q. Which is one of the book's messages, overcoming fears?

A. "Any time I am in a situation where I am just not comfortable, I am uneasy, but that doesn't mean I won't go on with it, just like the speech. And that I won't be good at it, but there are just some things I would prefer not to do!"

Q. Success doesn't equal happiness, yet you seem so hopeful and modest?

A. "I am always hopeful as a person, I have been since I was little...I really want things to be good. As I mention in the book, I wake up everyday expecting it to be good, and if it is not, then I try to set about changing it before I go to sleep at night."

Q. Would you describe yourself as religious or spiritual?

A. "Just spiritual, I am not religious. Although I grew up in a very religious family, but...I am no fanatic by any stretch of the word, and I am no angel, believe me. I wrote a song called 'The Seeker' many, many years ago, and it says 'I am a seeker, just a poor sinful creature, there is no one weaker than I am.'

"People say, 'What do you regret?' I say, 'I can't say that I regret anything because at the time I was doing it, whatever it was, it seemed to be the thing to be doing at the time.'

"I have a good friend base, I have a good husband. So I have a lot of things and people who help me and guide me. I have never had to go to a psychiatrist, but I would if I thought that I needed to.

Q. But we are in New York, Dolly! No psychiatrist?

A. "Well yes (laughs), I guess not. But I do that in my songs, I write my feelings out and then I have such a strong faith and then I have such good friends. I am very close to several of my sisters, and we just talk about everything and anything....And my best friend Judy, there is nothing I can't tell her, even if it is the awful-est thing in the world."

Q. You recently had to deny gay rumors. Who is your greatest love?

"My husband is my greatest love, I have been with him 48 years...He is my best buddy."

Q. Why do you think people always wonder about him?

A. "They don't think he really exists! When I was doing my show, we were thinking about having a different guy knock on the door every night, as my husband, and then one night he would be a midget, and one night he would be a black man, and one night he would be like a boxer or a wrestler, all these different things that people imagine what my husband looks like."

Q. You say that looking so artificial works for you, as it lets you prove how real you are. Why all the plastic surgery?

A. "Because I need it. Why does anybody get it?"

Q. Why do you think you need it?

A. "Because I am in show business. I am not a natural beauty. And I am on camera all the time. And I just always see, like if I need - Oh take one of my chins off, at least! - Or whatever. I mean, I don't go to extremes with it. I just do little bits and pieces, just to try and keep things touched up, just tweaking."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant and Carol Bishopric)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dolly-parton-talks-dreams-love-plastic-surgery-011442460.html

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Illinois House votes to give Chicago more time on school closings

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois House voted by a wide margin on Wednesday to give the Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest district, four more months to announce what could be dozens of school closings.

The state Senate, which also needs to approve the measure, will vote Thursday, an aide to Senate President John Cullerton said.

The district, which was hit with a strike by public school teachers in September, forecasts a $1 billion deficit next year and is widely expected to try to balance its budget in part by closing public schools.

School officials say they want the additional time to consult with the community over how best to close schools. The district has offered to enact a five-year moratorium on school closings after fall 2013 if it receives the deadline extension. School officials had been required by law to announce planned closings by December 1.

The Illinois House voted 84-28 for the extension, backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. A version of the bill also has been passed by the state Senate, but both chambers must agree on the same legislation and Governor Pat Quinn must sign it before week's end, or the deadline stays the same.

In praising the House's action, Emanuel said in a statement, "Our city has more school buildings, classrooms and desks than it has students and it is essential that we take time to create a sensible plan that invests our resources most effectively so that every child in every school gets a high-quality education."

The Chicago Teachers Union has objected to the extension and wants a moratorium on school closings to start immediately. The union said the district is approving new, mostly nonunion charter schools as it plans to close neighborhood schools, primarily in minority communities.

The district's enrollment has fallen nearly 20 percent in the last decade, mainly because of population declines in poor neighborhoods. The district said it can accommodate 500,000 students, but only about 400,000 are enrolled.

About 140 schools are half-empty, according to the district. The union said 86 Chicago public schools have closed in the past decade, but the district could not confirm that number.

Urban school districts around the country are grappling with the issue of declining enrollment, including in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., according to a study last year on school closings by the Pew Charitable Trust.

The first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years drew national attention to the city's dispute over education reforms such as teacher evaluations. The teachers were given a pay raise as part of the strike settlement.

Chicago teachers and some parents have complained that the school district has ignored their concerns over closings.

(Reporting by Renita D. Young; editing by Mary Wisniewski and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/illinois-house-grants-extension-school-closing-deadline-210105381.html

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Venture Capital | ENGLISH ARTICLES

Venture Capital

Venture Capital is the money or capital provided for new business ventures by investors other than the original proprietor. The term is sometimes also used for capital provided to rescue or turn around a company. Venture capitalists?that is, those who provide venture capital?include individuals, investment banks, and institutions that specialize in providing venture capital. Venture capitalists expect some of their investments to do well and some to do poorly. Their survival in business depends on picking more successful investments than unsuccessful ones. Venture capitalists face a higher risk of losing money than those providing capital to proven ventures, so they demand a higher potential return on their investment. When investing in new ventures, they often insist on owning a share of the business. As part owner, a venture capitalist can have more control over the investment and is in a better position to earn a higher return if the business succeeds than someone who lent money to the venture. The original proprietors may agree to this arrangement if it is the only way to get the money or if they want to raise funds without incurring debt. The owner may also welcome the business and financial expertise venture capitalists often provide.

Tags: business ventures, Venture capitalists

Source: http://www.englisharticles.info/2012/11/28/venture-capital/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=venture-capital

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Iran: Uranium enrichment to be speeded up

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran will step up its uranium enrichment program by sharply increasing the number of centrifuges used to make nuclear fuel, a senior official said Wednesday, in direct defiance of Western demands.

The statement by Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, is likely to escalate tensions. The West suspects Iran's nuclear program could be headed toward weapons production and has imposed punishing sanctions to try to persuade Tehran to stop enrichment.

Iran has denied the charges, saying its program is peaceful and geared toward generating electricity and producing radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

Uranium enriched to a low level is used to produce nuclear fuel for reactors, but high level enrichment would make it suitable for use in atomic warheads.

Abbasi said Iran is making nuclear advances in the face of the severe economic measures imposed by the U.N. and the West.

"Despite sanctions, we will most likely see a substantial increase in the number of centrifuge machines this year. We will continue enrichment with intensity," Abbasi was quoted by state TV as saying Wednesday. The Iranian calendar year ends on March 20.

Abbasi did not say if Iran's stepped up work would be at the five percent fuel level or the higher 20 percent quality, which has worried the West because it can be purified to weapons grade more quickly. There have been indications that Iran may push its enrichment even higher than the 20 percent acknowledged to U.N. nuclear watchdogs.

His remarks came days after the U.N. agency said Iran is about to double its output of higher enriched uranium at its fortified Fordo underground facility. That could move Iran closer to weapons capability.

A Nov. 8 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has installed about 2,800 centrifuges at Fordo and is poised to double the number of operating centrifuges, from the current 700 to nearly 1,400.

Iran says it needs 20 percent enriched uranium to make fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran that produces isotopes for about 1 million patients annually.

Abbasi also said Iran will soon conduct a test run of its heavy water reactor in Arak in central Iran, despite demands from the U.N. to stop the work. The test will use virtual fuel, not actual radioactive material, he said.

He said construction of the 40-megawatt research reactor is progressing on schedule, but he noted that experts are handling the project with greater care in anticipation of possible sabotage attempts.

"The Arak reactor is progressing without any problem according to the schedule. Only because of security considerations, we are moving with caution, since enemy intends to harm this reactor," he was quoted by state TV as saying. "All the equipment needed to operate this reactor has been purchased."

The West is concerned that the heavy water reactor could produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon each year, if the spent fuel is reprocessed. That would be another pathway for bomb-grade material, but Iran is not known to possess a plutonium reprocessing facility

Iran has experienced explosions and malfunctions at its nuclear and industrial sites, partly due to faulty equipment secretly procured on the global market.

Also, Iran says it is the target of a campaign that has included the abduction and assassination of scientists, the sale of faulty equipment and the planting of a destructive computer worm known as Stuxnet, which briefly brought Iran's uranium enrichment activity to a halt in 2010.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-uranium-enrichment-speeded-164043288--finance.html

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Oops! Facebook admits to adding users to groups they left

Featured

2 days

Helen A.S. Popkin

If you're confused over a recent email from Facebook regarding its data use policy, you're not alone.? The email ? with the subject line "Up... Read more

6 hrs.

Rosa Golijan , NBC News

A software glitch caused many Facebook users to find themselves members of old groups, ones they may have left a long time ago. More uncomfortably, some people were suddenly members of groups they'd even?been kicked out of. Facebook issued a statement confirming the details.

"A bug surfaced last night that caused some users to be re-added to groups that they previously belonged to," a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News. "We are working to resolve the issue now. In the meantime, we are rolling out a short-term fix for all closed groups that will make the content of those groups inaccessible to the re-added members."

At first, this bug may seem like an annoyance, leading to little more than?a pile of unwanted?notifications?? that's what we saw firsthand. However,?there could be some pretty nasty side-effects. Before Facebook issued that short-term fix, individuals who were added to closed (or "secret") groups were able to view all the non-public content in those groups as well as the current membership rosters. This could leave some sensitive posts vulnerable (though you really shouldn't be posting anything of that nature on Facebook in the first place, whether publicly or privately).

Even public groups (or closed groups which have been turned public since a user left them) can cause issues, as their membership rosters are now visible to everyone.

"I guess you now know that I belonged to a 'Flava of Love' group," Alberto Lima, a blogger for Noisecast,?wrote in a Facebook message alerting me of the glitch. "I swear I never watched the show!" Sure, Alberto. Sure.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/oops-facebook-admits-adding-users-groups-they-left-or-were-1C7312098

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andyhearn70: enabler modestia: Travel and leisure: Car Rental For ...

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CPP changes buffered impact of aging population ... - Financial Post

Canada?s changes to the national pension scheme in the 1990s helped buffer the country against demographic changes that are affecting a number of countries including Japan, Russia and Hong Kong, according to pension consultant Mercer.

?Unlike many countries around the world, Canada acted in the 1990s to help mitigate the future impact of an aging population on its national pension system,? said Scott Clausen, a partner in Mercer?s Canadian retirement business.

The percentage of Canada?s population that is of working age is projected decline to 65% from 69% over the next eight years. That is double the percentage point decline expected in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to Mercer.

Among the steps Canada took in the 1990s was to increase Canada Pension Plan contributions to an amount larger than needed to meet benefit payments at the time. The excess contributions are invested by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and are expected to help mitigate contribution increases or benefit reductions that would otherwise have been required as the population aged, Mercer said.

Canada also took ?significant steps? to reduce its level of federal government debt and, earlier this year, made changes to its Old Age Security program so the start of benefits will ultimately kick in at age 67 rather than 65.

Some notable Canadians such as former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge and David Denison, the former chief executive of the CPPIB, have recently pointed to the successes of the Canada Pension Plan model to explain why expansion of the national scheme might be preferable to the federal government initiative to fill gaps in retirement planning with a pooled pension administered by the banks and insurers for Canadians who don?t have a workplace plan.

Ottawa moved ahead with legislation to create the Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) in June.

So far, only Quebec has announced its intention to introduce companion legislation to roll out the retirement savings vehicle.

?All provinces agreed to move forward with the PRPP framework at the December 2010 meeting of Finance ministers,? Ted Menzies, minister of state for finance, said in an emailed statement Thursday. Citing a Finance Canada study in 2009 that identified a gap in private savings, he said PRPPs ?are a low-cost savings option will help address that gap.?

A report released by the OECD in June?recognized the role of private pensions in addressing gaps in retirement systems in industrialized countries.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/29/changes-to-cpp-keep-canada-ahead-of-demographic-trends-mercer/

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U.S. Military Destroys Targets in History-Making Missile Test

Last Updated: 10/26/2012*

Raytheon missiles, radars and other systems played critical roles in the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's largest live-fire missile defense test in history today. Referred to as Flight Test Integrated-01 (FTI-01), the test near the Kwajalein Atoll simulated an all-out missile attack.

?This is the most sophisticated test of our ballistic missile defense capabilities ever attempted,? said Tom Kennedy, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems president. ?Raytheon?s radars, missiles and integrated systems are an indispensable part of our nation?s missile defense architecture.?

During the test, Raytheon?s AN/TPY-2 X band radar detected a medium range ballistic missile target and provided cues to the THAAD weapon, enabling a successful intercept. Raytheon?s Patriot system detected, tracked and successfully intercepted a short range ballistic missile target with a PAC-3 interceptor and a low flying cruise missile target over water . The company?s Standard Missile-2 was fired from the USS FITZGERALD and engaged a low-flying cruise missile. A Raytheon Standard Missile-3 also participated in the test.

About Patriot
Patriot is the world?s most capable air and missile defense system, protecting against a full range of advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.? It is owned and operated by 12 nations around the globe. Raytheon is both the prime contractor for domestic and international Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems and the system integrator for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles.

About AN/TPY-2
Playing a vital role in missile defense, AN/TPY-2 is a mobile X-band phased-array radar. The radar searches, acquires and tracks threat ballistic missiles, and is sophisticated enough to discriminate between threats and non-threats such as decoys.
?
In forward based mode, AN/TPY-2 detects and tracks an enemy ballistic missile starting at boost (ascent) phase of flight, which is shortly after the missile is launched.

In terminal mode, AN/TPY-2 serves as the search, track, discrimination and fire control radar for the THAAD weapon system. Forward-based AN/TPY-2?s in Japan, Israel and Turkey are currently enabling the protection of the U.S., deployed troops, and the U.S.?s friends and? allies from the growing threat of short-, medium- and long-range missiles.

About Standard Missile-2
The tried-and-true SM-2 is renowned for its role as the U.S. Navy?s primary, medium-range area air defense weapon. SM-2 is also the primary air defense weapon for eight allied navies. It protects ships by providing defense against advanced high- and low-altitude anti-ship missile threats.

About Standard Missile-3
Launched from U.S. and Japan navy cruisers and destroyers equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense weapon system, SM-3s destroy incoming ballistic missile threats in space by colliding with them. Often described as ?hitting a bullet with a bullet,? the collision in space is similar to the impact between two 10-ton trucks both traveling at 600 mph.?
?

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* The content on this page is classified as historical content. See this important information regarding such content.

Source: http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/technology/rtn12_fti01?WT.rss_f=Raytheon%20Company:%20Technology%20&%20Innovation%20News%20(2012)

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Millennial: Apple Still Leads Samsung In Overall Impressions, But Android Dominates iOS With 52% Share

Leading mobile ad network Millennial Media today released ist Q3 Mobile Mix report, and it would appear that Apple has kept its lead as top manufacturer on the platform, with the top device being the iPhone. However, Apple didn't see a drastic spike in mobile ad impressions with the release of the iPhone 5, as was expected. Apple accounted for 31.45 percent of overall device impressions, up from 31.38% in Q2, and the iPhone the number one device on the platform with 16.04 percent of impressions, up from 15.84 last quarter.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/enBlJx2ClPA/

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Imaging technologies used to solve puzzle of plant architecture: Breakthrough could help optimize capture of sugars for biofuels

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) combined different microscopic imaging methods to gain a greater understanding of the relationships between biomass cell wall structure and enzyme digestibility, a breakthrough that could lead to optimizing sugar yields and lowering the costs of making biofuels.

A paper on the breakthrough, "How Does Plant Cell Wall Nanoscale Architecture Correlate with Enzymatic Digestibility?" appears in the current issue of Science Magazine.

Principal Investigator Dr. Shi-You Ding of NREL said the imaging technologies allowed the interdisciplinary team of scientists to view the plants' architecture at scales ranging from millimeter to nanometer, a range of 1 million to one.

That allowed them to learn not just the plant cell wall architecture, but also the localization of the enzymes responsible for deconstruction of the cell wall polymers and the effects of enzyme action on the cell wall.

They didn't have to resort to wet chemistry, which ascertains the molecular makeup of a substance at the cost of destroying the spatial relationships. "The typical way to understand the structure of biomass is to break down all the individual components so they can be analyzed," Ding, a biologist, said. "The problem with that method is that then you don't know where all the components came from. You lose the structural integrity."

That's a crucial loss, because an understanding of how enzymes digest plants requires an understanding of where everything is inside the cell walls.

"Our imaging techniques gave us a deeper understanding of the cell wall structure and the process of enzyme hydrolysis of cell-wall carbohydrate polymers to release simple sugars," Ding said. "That allows us to optimize the process and reduce costs."

Dr. Paul Gilna, the director of the BESC, in which the project was conducted, added: "This work greatly improves our ability to closely examine the mechanisms behind the scientific improvements we have developed, all of which are targeted at enabling the emergence of a sustainable cellulosic biofuels industry." BESC is a multi-institutional Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy Office of Science.

The correlative imaging in real time allowed the team to assess the impact of lignin removal on biomass hydrolysis and to see the nanometer-scale changes in cell wall structure. And, that allowed them to see how those changes affected the rate at which enzymes from two different organisms digested the plant cell walls.

The aim in the biofuel industry is to access the plants' polymeric carbohydrate structures without damaging the basic molecules of which the polymers are constructed. "It's more like dis-assembling a building with wrenches, hammers and crowbars to recover re-useable bricks, wiring, pipes and structural steel than it is like using a wrecking ball or explosives," Gilna said. Enzymes, unlike typical harsh chemical catalysts, excel at this relatively gentle disassembly.

The NREL team examined two enzyme systems -- one from a fungus, the other from a bacterium -- both holding promise as biocatalysts for producing sugar intermediates for the biofuels industry.

The particular bacterial enzymes studied are organized through a large scaffolding protein into a multi-enzyme complex from which they make a coordinated attack on the cell walls. The separate fungal enzymes act more individualistically, although the ultimate result is cooperative in that case, as well.

The NREL team found that the easier the access to the cell walls, the better and faster the enzymes will digest the material.

In biofuels production, enzymes are needed to greatly speed up the chemical reactions that break down the biomass during fermentation.

The NREL scientists found that the gummy, poly-aromatic non-sugar lignin in plants interferes with enzymes' ability to access the polysaccharides in the cell wall -- the stuff that both the enzymes and the industry want.

So, they concluded, ideal pre-treatment should focus on getting rid of the lignin while leaving the structural polysaccharides within the cell walls intact, thus leaving a relatively loose, porous native-like structure that allows easy access by the enzymes and rapid digestion, as opposed to pretreatments that remove some of the spongier carbohydrate polymers and allow the remainder to collapse into tighter and less-accessible structures. To continue the building dis-assembly and salvage analogy, removal of the lignin is like unlocking all of the doors in the building so that the workers can get in to pull out re-useable materials, but without collapsing the overall structure so that access is blocked.

By understanding the changing structure of the plant material, scientists can learn more about how enzymes work.

"The enzyme has evolved to deal with the real structure, not the pretreated, artificially decomposed one," Ding said. "So to understand how the enzyme goes about its business, it is really important to know where cell wall components are located, as well as the various modes of enzyme action."

"Then we can optimize the whole process," Ding said. "By observing where cellulase enzymes are localized and the nanostructural changes in the plant cell wall architecture that their actions produce, we hope to suggest rational strategies for more cost effective pretreatments and better enzymes."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. S.-Y. Ding, Y.-S. Liu, Y. Zeng, M. E. Himmel, J. O. Baker, E. A. Bayer. How Does Plant Cell Wall Nanoscale Architecture Correlate with Enzymatic Digestibility? Science, 2012; 338 (6110): 1055 DOI: 10.1126/science.1227491

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/I3qveC_BH9o/121128093817.htm

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Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis handed key roles within European football

Published : 28 Nov 2012 11:57:00

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has been appointed to two influential roles within European football.

Gazidis, who took up his role at the Gunners in 2009, has been named by the European Club Association (ECA) as their representative on UEFA's primary policy-making body - the UEFA Professional Strategy Council. He will also take up a place on the ECA Executive board which represents the interests of Europe's top 207 teams. Gazidis was part of the management team that was in charge of setting up the MLS in 2001 and he will replace Manchester United's CEO, David Gill, on the ECA board. ECA Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said:

"I am pleased to welcome Ivan Gazidis on the ECA Executive Board. His experience and distinct football knowledge will add a lot of value to ECA and European football as a whole." Upon his appointment Gazidis said:

"I am delighted to be joining these important groups which are hugely influential in the future direction of the game in Europe. I am looking forward to representing the top European clubs in many important debates as we move ahead."

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Source: http://www.football.co.uk/arsenal/arsenal_chief_executive_ivan_gazidis_handed_key_roles_within_european_football_rss3623139.shtml

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Bergen: Republican obsession with Benghazi makes no sense (CNN)

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In elf ears and wizard hats, 'Hobbit' fans rejoice

Cast members Hugo Weaving, left, and James Nesbitt pose on the red carpet at the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at the Embassy Theatre, in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

Cast members Hugo Weaving, left, and James Nesbitt pose on the red carpet at the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at the Embassy Theatre, in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

Director Peter Jackson, right, poses with his daughter Katie on the red carpet at the premiere of his new film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at the Embassy Theatre, in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet at the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at the Embassy Theatre, in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

Elijah Wood who plays Frodo poses on his arrival for the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at Embassy Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

Martin Freeman who plays Bilbo Baggins poses on the red carpet for the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," at Embassy Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SNPA, Ross Setford) NEW ZEALAND OUT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? Wearing elf ears and wizard hats, sitting atop their dad's shoulders or peering from balconies, tens of thousands of New Zealanders watched their favorite "Hobbit" actors walk the red carpet Wednesday at the film trilogy's hometown premiere.

An Air New Zealand plane freshly painted with "Hobbit" characters flew low over Wellington's Embassy Theatre, eliciting roars of approval from the crowd.

Sam Rashidmardani, 12, said he came to see Gollum actor Andy Serkis walk the red carpet ? and he wasn't disappointed.

"It was amazing," Rashidmardani said of the evening, adding his Gollum impression: "My precious."

British actor Martin Freeman, who brings comedic timing to the lead role of Bilbo Baggins, said he thought director Peter Jackson had done a fantastic job on "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

"He's done it again," Freeman said in an interview on the red carpet. "If it's possible, it's probably even better than 'The Lord of the Rings.' I think he's surpassed it."

While is unusual for a city so far from Hollywood to host the premiere of a hoped-for blockbuster, Jackson's filming of his lauded 'LOTR' trilogy and now "The Hobbit" in New Zealand has helped create a film industry here. The film will open in theaters around the world next month.

One of the talking points of the film is the choice by Jackson to shoot it using 48 frames per second instead of the traditional 24 in hopes of improving the picture quality.

Some say the images come out too clear and look so realistic that they take away from the magic of the film medium. Jackson likens it to advancing from vinyl records to CDs.

"I really think 48 frames is pretty terrific and I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction," Jackson said on the red carpet. "It's been talked about for so long, but finally the film is being released and people can decide for themselves."

Jackson said it was strange working on the project so intimately for two years and then having it suddenly taken away as the world got to see the movie.

"It spins your head a little bit," he said.

Aidan Turner, who plays the dwarf Kili in the movie, said his character is reckless and thinks he's charming.

"I don't get to play real people it seems, I only get to play supernatural ones," he said. "So playing a dwarf didn't seem that weird, actually.

Perhaps the most well-known celebrities to walk the carpet were Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood, who reprise their roles in the LOTR in the "Hobbit."

"Mostly I came here to see everyone. I like them all," said fan Aysu Shahin, 16, adding that Wood was her favorite. She said she wanted to see the movie "as soon as possible. I'm excited for it."

At a news conference earlier in the day, Jackson said many younger people are happy to watch movies on their iPads.

"We just have to make the cinema-going experience more magical and more spectacular to get people coming back to the movies again," he said.

Jackson said only about 1,000 of the 25,000 theaters that will show the film worldwide are equipped to show 48 frames, so most people will see it in the more traditional format. The movie has also been shot in 3D.

A handful of animal rights protesters held signs at the premiere.

The protest by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals comes after several animal wranglers said three horses and up to two dozen other animals had died during the making of the movies because they were housed at an unsafe farm.

Jackson's spokesman earlier acknowledged two horses had died preventable deaths at the farms but said the production company worked quickly to improve stables and other facilities and that claims of mistreatment were unfounded.

"No mistreatment, no abuse. Absolutely none," Jackson said at the news conference.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-28-New%20Zealand-Hobbit%20Premiere/id-b1bad2e53b4d46d58ace2e2c38207a25

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The Stoner Channel: 2000 Miles of Red, Zero G Goldfish, and Stratospheric Cats

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Video: West Coast braces for heavy rain

>>> weather making the news tonight as viewers on the west coast are well aware they're getting ready for some heavy weather , heavy rain , flood conditions that could go on for days. a huge plume of moisture that our friends at the weather channel say it is like a giant fire hose , getting ready to park itself on the west coast . some areas could see ten inches of rain, it could stretch south all the way to southern california . it could last for days and many

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50002044/

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Oldest wooden church in Canada designated a national historic site

TADOUSSAC, Qc - Sainte-Croix-de-Tadoussac Mission Church, built between 1747 and 1750 at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers and considered Canada's oldest wooden church, has been designated a national historic site.

"It is the only remaining original place of worship that tells the stories of the missionary activities of the Jesuit fathers in the remote regions of New France and of the conversion of the Innu First Nation people (the Montagnais) to Christianity," said a release from Parks Canada, which operates many of the country's national historic sites.

The small chapel, about 200 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, was constructed at a time when Tadoussac was an active fur-trading centre. Its architectural features, including a bell tower and front-gable roof, make it "an outstanding example of mission churches erected in New France."

The original siding of vertical planks was replaced in 1866-1867 with horizontal clapboard siding.

The church is among recent Quebec additions to the roster of over 1,500 places, persons and events that have been officially commemorated for their national historic significance. The others announced by Parks Canada are artist Marc-Aurele Fortin, museum builder Frederick Cleveland Morgan, the former Lamaque mine and Bourlamaque mining village in Abitibi, the Inuit co-operative movement and the Arvida historic district.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oldest-wooden-church-canada-designated-national-historic-190704637.html

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